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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. scale — in music
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. clip — for paper
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. vault — a safe
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. vault — in gymnastics
  14. stand — to bear
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. cue — for pool
  17. clip — a video
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. vault — an arched ceiling
  21. clip — to cut
  22. cue — a hint
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. scale — size or range

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com